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TSSA Urges Irish Govt To Think Again Over EU Transport Fund

TSSA General Secretary, Manuel Cortes, has urged the Irish Government to "think again" over a decision to overlook a key European Union fund aimed at increasing and improving transport infrastructure.

Ireland’s Transport Minister, Shane Ross, has been criticised after a Parliamentary question confirmed the Department of Transport will not be submitting an application in this round of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funding.

The CEF has allocated 24 billion Euros for the period 2014-2020. Dublin has in the past been a major recipient of the fund, with only three other EU states drawing down less than Ireland.

Manuel Cortes said - “The Government really needs to think again, it simply can’t ignore this golden opportunity. Ministers can surely see that this money would directly benefit commuters across Ireland.

“CEF money could and should be used to provide better rail journey times, more comfortable rail services, or go towards enhancing other parts of the travel and freight network.

“Other EU countries, such as Denmark, have used the CEF to good effect on its railways and Ireland should be pushing for this available money to do likewise.

“Frankly, in the context of Brexit uncertainty, it’s hard to understand the motivation for ignoring a fund which has been key in the past. Let’s sort this out.”